Win the Copper. Win the War

In World War II, the fight on the battlefield was as much about gaining land as it was about securing key resources.

And in the end, the Allies were able to wrestle victory against Nazi Germany.

We know how that story played out, but are we ever told about the critical role commodities played in directing the outcome of that war?

I don’t think we are, so what follows is a synopsis of the untold story of critical metal supply and its vital role in supporting the Allied victory.

Winning Access to War Minerals

South America isn’t quoted as playing much of a role in WWII; however, several key South American countries supplied the Allies with critical commodities.

Those commodities fed the Allied war machine and gave it the ability to sustain pressure against the Nazi’s, who ultimately strained under a lack of available resources.

South America won on two fronts as a key destination for Allied resource supply: favourable geography and limitless geology.

It held vast resources with relatively safe passage to the North.

The United States transported commodities from South American countries primarily via ocean-going cargo and merchant steamships moving along Pacific and Caribbean maritime routes.

Critically, this was outside the perilous patrol of Nazi U-Boats throughout the Atlantic.

So, what did they supply?

The landlocked South American country, Bolivia, was a major supplier of tin for the Allied war effort.

Tin was a critical, high-demand strategic metal used primarily to coat steel food cans, manufacture military hardware components, produce electrical solder, and package vital medical supplies such as blood plasma and morphine syringes.

Further South, Chile poured vast amounts of copper into the US manufacturing machine.

Copper was a vital strategic material used for ammunition, electrical wiring in vehicles and aircraft, communications equipment, and brass hardware.

Even then, copper shortages remained severe across Allied countries, with governments rationing civilian use.

Reports show that gold mining was halted during the war to redirect labour towards the critical production of copper. The US government also replaced copper with steel in US pennies!

Meanwhile, Nazi Germany suffocated under severe, chronic shortages of copper and other non-ferrous metals during World War II.

Allied naval blockades and a lack of domestic natural resources forced Germany towards extreme measures like aggressive recycling, territorial plunder, and substitution programs.

But in the end, that wasn’t enough.

Germany couldn’t keep pace with the Allied war machine, largely due to its inability to access key raw materials.

Without bullets, artillery, and machines, armies grind to a halt. It’s as simple as that.

Yet despite its critical role, few military historians have ever recognised the supply of raw materials as perhaps one of the most critical elements in determining the outcome of war. 

And that feeds into the broad generalisation that the supply of resources is infinite. Except it isn’t.

And when supply is constrained, disaster unfolds.

The inability to access critical resources remains the untold story behind the demise of Nazi Germany. 

And it’s a lesson that Western governments could take note of today.  

Resource strangulation is real, and it has a major impact on driving economies, wars, and technology.

When realisation turns to panic

Buying something not just because you need it, but so your foes can’t have it… That’s what economic historians call preclusive purchasing.

And I suspect we’re on a path towards that outcome in the not-so-distant future.

This wartime template offers a very relevant model for what could unfold over the coming years.

Where regular day-to-day pricing mechanisms give way to critical government needs. In other words, a bidding war. 

It’s a tad frightening, but it’s also a realistic framework given what’s played out over the past 3-4 years in the geopolitical arena.

And all of this is colliding with severe underinvestment in the mining and energy sector over the past two decades.

You can get ahead of that by ensuring you have exposure to the commodities that governments need. You can see them here.

Until next time.